READING Last Monday, you could pick up the rumbling readership about the restructured and slightly diminished Oregonian - a local news section folded into the front world/national news section. But that was only for Monday editions; the rest of the week has remained the same. (Can we point out here that today's Oregonian was notably strong, with lots of readable stuff?)
They should get a load of what the Seattle Times is doing: Major changes paperwide, essentially throughout the week. They seem to be good choices, seemingly aimed at preserving local journalism, which ought to be top priority. But Executive Editor David Boardman said he isn't trying to make the argument, as a fictional editor in the cable show The Wire did, that "Less is more."
He launched his column about the changes with an anecdote about a thanksgiving parade in which the Times participated. At one point, he said, someone in the crowd yelled out, "Please stay in business!"
Boardman responded in the column, "We're working on it, sir. We are working on it."